Welcome back. Hope the tea is good.
So, after waking up naturally at 6.30am or so (I know!), had to sneak around quietly so as not to wake up fourty other people, apart from the other guy who was awake. Think I was pretty successful. After breakfast, there was a quick photo of the new group in the family (of about 40,000), then it was back on the bus to Rotorua.
Ta Moko
I'd been to Rotorua earlier in the year for a weekend, so was prepared for the lovely eggy sulphur smell that is throughout the town. I'd also done the geothermal area that was an option on the tour. So, having decided before I left the UK that I wanted a tattoo while I was out here, I went to the thermal village (where Maoris live and work) to go see a guy called JP, who was going to design me a Ta Moko.
A Ta Moko is basically a personalised tattoo, using Maori symbols to show your geneology, personality, aspirations, a few different things. So I had a chat with him for about 40 mins to discuss me, and what I wanted from the tattoo. I then had a wander around the village for 2 hours or so while he designed it.
There was a cultural show as part of the village activities, so I watched a different poi dance and haka, saw some geysers, and eventually wandered back. He showed me the drawing he'd done, talked me through the meanings (so I can probably read other peoples a bit) and I immediately fell in love with it. Booked there and then to come back on Wednesday (this was on Monday) and get it done.
I won't keep you in suspense, I went back on Wedsnesday, and after about three hours now have this on my leg:
(I've left it too late to take a photo, so it's now at the stage where it's all scabby. Mmmmm. Will give you a photo as soon as possible!)
The bit behind my knee hurt! The black was ok. When he was doing the yellow it hurt. When he was up there the third time with the red, it was agonising at times. But, as you can't see, beautiful result!
I then hobbled back to the bus stop (not stray), and headed back to Taupo.
Taupo
I have fallen in love with Taupo. It's a small little town (might be classed as a city over here...) right on the shore of Lake Taupo (the whole area is basically the top of a volcano that exploded back in 300 and something BC (not that imformative I know, but you are on the internet. I would suggest using Google), second largest explosion ever, there's reports of ash being seen in China and Rome).
Very chilled out little town with a beautiful view. A panorama of perfection to paraphrase someone. One of the things you can see from my friend Nat's house (where I'm staying), and alot of other spots is Mount Ruhapehu which is a massive Ski field (in Winter), Mount Tongariro and Mt. Ngaurohoe, better known as Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.
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| View from Nat's Balcony |
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| Same View Zoomed in. |
So what I've done in Taupo;
Sailing
On my first full day here, I did a sailing trip on the lake, out to see come carvings done in the rock from the historic age of 1980. They are Maori carvings, but just not old.
Sailing was fun, I've never done it before, got a bit scared when we were using the wind and the boat was at a 45 degree angle, so the pull of gravity was towards the water (I can't swim). But it was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough that the wind changed, so used the sails there and back.
Walk to Huka falls
From Lake Taupo comes one of New Zealand's main rivers, the Waikato (There's also a region with the same name - see I can be informative!). About 5km up the river are the Huka (pronounced Hook-a) falls. Not massive, but powerful - the equivalent of 5 Olympic swimming pools goes over the falls in a minute, so as you can guess, swimming is not advised.
As it was a beautiful day today (Friday), I decided to take a walk up the river to the falls:
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| Huka Falls |
Skydiving!
That's right, I threw myself (well, got thrown really) out of a plane at 15,000ft. Never have I been so scared. I was shaking just waiting on the ground before getting ready, bit off all my nails. The plane ride was also scary, but I did calm down a little (and then got scared again). My friend Nat who I am staying with works with Taupo Tandem Skydive and has done 269 jumps now, so I realised that it's probably safe. She isn't dead. Neither was my Tandem Master Andy (The guy with the parachute who I was strapped to).
But there is that part of the brain that was screaming: "You aren't supposed to throw yourself out of a plane!"
After dropping out and screaming for the first few seconds, it kicks in that this is AMAZING! Freefall is undescribably awesome, and the view was perfect, over the lake, city, surrounds. You can see both sides of the North Island as well. It was then I started to feel so elated, wondering what the hell I'd been scared about! Andy also let me steer the parachute for a bit after it had deployed which was cool. My first thought on landing was that I wanted to do it again!
Nat had been trying to convince me to do it from before I set foot in Taupo, and by giving in to her cajoling, I had one of the best experiences of my life. I quite happily admit she is Amazing, and Wins. (Stubborness battle I lost).
She was also very helpful, got me a discount, free photos and video (getting the video tonight, I'll put it on Facebook. So here's some photos, they are not always flattering with the 200kmh wind in my face!
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| While trying not to think of impending death, I thought the camera would be able to catch me saying "Yippie Kai Ai!". Fail. |
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| The girl in the black and pink is Nat, my mate who I've been staying with. And who convinced me to do this! Thanks! |
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| The kind of view I was getting! |
The other great thing about this week has been the weather. Sunny all the time! I may have been sunburnt a little, but now am remembering the immortal words of Baz Luhrmann; everybody's free to wear sunsceen. If you haven't seen or heard this song, do so now.
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